1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to building structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to geodesic domes. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to a method of constructing a geodesic dome based on an octahedron.
2. Prior Art
The prior art has taught geodesic domes in which the pattern of construction is based on closed three-dimensional shapes other than an octahedron. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,682,235; 2,914,074; and 3,203,144, Fuller teaches a geodesic dome based on an icosahedron. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,927, Fuller teaches a geodesic dome based on a dodecahedron or a tricontahedron in addition to an icosahedron.
Yacoe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,361, teaches a polyhedral structure that approximates a sphere. The polyhedral structure has a plurality of polygonal faces, at least two of which are regular polygons and at least half the remainder of which are non-equilateral hexagons or pentagons. Each vertex of the polyhedron is a junction of three or four polygonal edges. Each polygonal edge is tangent to the approximated sphere at one point.
Bergman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,72.6, teaches a construction system for forming icosahedral structures from a series of shells. Each shell utilizes a plurality of octahedrons and tetrahedrons.
Lalvani, U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,382, teaches a construction system for forming icosahedral structures. The system utilizes four triangles of varying sizes and shapes and six parallelograms of varying sizes and shapes that are combined to form tetrahedral, octahedral, half-octahedral, truncated tetrahedral, cuboctahedral, truncated octahedral, rhombohedral, and parallelepiped members. These members are then combined to form the icosahedral structure.
Reilly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,047, teaches a tent formed of a skin draped over a support structure. The support structure is formed of a plurality of elongated members, such as pipes or the like, that join to form a plurality of patterns. These patterns are based on four-, six-, or eight-sided geodetic support structures that have common apical coupling points.
It is to be appreciated that none of these references teaches a geodesic dome based on an octahedron. A geodesic dome based on an octahedron is desirable because it is easier to divide into halves and other fractional sections, and thus to construct fractional geodesic domes from, than is a geodesic dome based on an icosahedron, a dodecahedron, a tricontahedron, or any other three-dimensional shape. The present invention, as detailed hereinbelow, presents such an octahedron-based geodesic dome.